Marion County, Texas Jail Fails State Inspection
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) now lists Marion County Jail in Texas as a Non-Compliant Jail on the TCJS website because of a failed annual jail inspection. The jail inspection report was issued on March 28, 2023.
TCJS cited Marion County Jail for four alleged violations of minimum jail standards. The address of Marion County Jail is 103 W Dallas St., Jefferson, TX 75657. Details on alleged noncompliance follow.
- RULE §273.2 is under the Health Services Plan. Part (7) states that prescriptions must be distributed in accordance with the written instructions from a physician by an appropriate individual designated by the sheriff/operator.
- A Medication Administration Records review failed to show that medications are distributed in accordance with the written instructions from a physician.
- RULE §273.5(b)-Screening Instrument. This requirement is that at the time when all inmates are admitted, the jail staff must fill out a Screening Form for Suicide and Medical/Mental/Developmental Impairments.
- During the review of medical files, it was discovered that the Screening form for Suicide and Medical/Mental/Developmental Impairments is not being filled out by jail staff in its entirety.
- RULE §273.6(3)-Restraints. In intervals of every 15 minutes at most, a documented observation of the inmate will be conducted. These observations should include an assessment of the circulation to the extremities and the security of the restraints.
- During a review of observation logs of inmates restrained with the restraint chair, it was found that, on multiple occasions, they were conducted from 1 to 5 minutes over the required 15-minute time frame.
- RULE §275.1-Regular Observation by Jailers. This rule is in the chapter on the supervision of inmates. It states an observation shall be performed at least every 30 minutes in areas where inmates are known to have demonstrated bizarre behavior or are known to be potentially suicidal, assaultive, or mentally ill.
- Observation logs were reviewed, and it was discovered that face-to-face observations of inmates who are at a heightened risk due to being potentially suicidal, mentally ill, or assaultive, or who have demonstrated bizarre behavior were routinely conducted from 1 minute to 2 hours 27 minutes past the required 30-minute time frame.
All minimum jail standards affect inmates in some measure. The above four could ostensibly be a matter of life or death to individual inmates. For instance, if a diabetic didn’t receive insulin as prescribed by a physician, he could suffer ketoacidosis and die. If a mentally ill inmate isn’t identified as potentially suicidal, receiving minimal supervision could give him or her an opportunity to commit suicide, etc.
smchugh
smchugh